Music to kick tentacled a**es (Listen & read!)
How come we’ve never talked about music? Forgive Me Father may just as well be the first Lovecraftian game where the somber sounds of violin get replaced with METAL. (It probably isn’t, but still - it’s a rare combination.)
The soundtrack was composed by Tim Fialka, who is also a sound designer himself. In our business, this means a lot.
FMF is indeed a retro shooter, kinda looks retro-ish, kinda sounds retro-ish, but ultimately, it’s a modern game under the hood. This means we couldn’t just have music exist separately from everything else, like in the original Doom. There, you just had the tracks play in the background. No, our music is dynamic and accentuates certain parts of the game, like big fights, reveals, or “OH NOES” moments.
Being able to understand how all of this works from the SFX designer’s side was a big advantage for Tim. As a result, we have moments where music works together with sound effects to create powerful sound beats. It’s a bit more complex than it may look, and you may not realize this is even how it works, but that’s the point. You just feel it.
But metal Lovecraft?
Yeah. We knew we wanted that from the get-go. In a way, it’s our homage to the soundtrack of old, where you had kickass metal tunes in 2.5 shooters like Doom or Duke. But frankly, when you think about it, this wasn’t a standard for the genre. Quake had Nine Inch Nails’ weirdness, Blood was more spooky than anything. Still, we best remember and still whistle Doom tracks, not Quake’s.
However, pure metal would be boring. It works for albums that you listen to for 40 minutes, but not when you play for hours. Tim knew he had to spice it up. So instead of just guitars and drums, you can hear orchestral and electronic bits.
As Tim says, his inspiration wasn’t only Doom. He studied the soundtracks of Half-Life and some later first-person shooters. One huge inspiration was Mick Gordon’s work on Doom 2016.
Give it a listen:
Ultimately, everything we’ve done music-wise served to create FMF’s unique atmosphere. And we do hope it sounds unique to you - Lovecraftian, but not in a generic manner.
What do you think? Let’s talk in the comments or join our Discord server!
See you in the world of unspeakable horrors!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096920